Rocky moved around in his bed, mumbling in his sleep. Today was the day he would face his parents and he was more than worried. He was terrified.

"You are a worthless... irresponsible... little brat!" Rocky watched in fear as the belt whistled through the air, nearly touching his bare skin.

Upon impact, he fell off the bed, collapsing with a thud onto the ground. He screamed silently, opening his eyes and taking in his surroundings. Realizing he was home, safe and sound, he sighed, wiping the sweat from his face. It was suddenly apparent to him that seeing his birth parents might be a bad idea.

He climbed back into bed, noticing it was still early to be up and at 'em. Clutching his stuffed wolf, he slowly drifted back to sleep.

~~~

Hours later, Chase, Skye and Rocky were in the car, headed towards the prison. Chase periodically checked on his son, a worried look in his eyes. At the next stoplight, he gave Rocky a smile through the rearview mirror.

Rocky smiled back. Chase's smile grew wider upon seeing his happiness. After all he'd been through, he was still happy and energetic, even more so now.

Chase turned into the facility, showing his ID to the guard. Upon getting out of the car, Rocky awed at the amount of security. "They're never leaving, are they?" he asked aloud.

"Nope," Chase said. "They won't hurt anyone ever again." He and Skye walked ahead of Rocky, talking to the receptionist. Rocky's parents had been waiting all morning for him.

Mrs. Wright, Rocky's caseworker, took took his hand and gently led him down the hallway to a special meeting room. Chase and Skye stood on the other side of two-way glass to watch. Chase had his fists clenched as Rocky's birth parents walked in.

Skye grabbed his fist. "He'll be okay," she whispered.

"It's not him I'm worried about," he muttered.

Once seated, an officer chained Rocky's birth parents to their chairs and table. "You make any advances to touch the boy and the visit is over, understood?"

"Yes, Officer," they said. They both looked terrible. There was no doubt in Chase's mind that child abusers didn't fair well in prison. He knew that much from his days as an officer. He always sought the maximum sentence possible for those types of offenders. He looked Rocky's father in the eye and scowled. Although he couldn't see him, Rocky's father squirmed uncomfortably in his seat.

The door to the room opened very slowly as Rocky peered inside. "My baby," his mother sobbed, tears streaming down her face. Rocky shut the door behind him, hands shaking nervously.

"We've been waiting to see you for so long, Rocky," his father said, a look of sadness on his face. Rocky said nothing, only stared at the ground.

"How have they been treating you? Are you eating well?" his mother asked.

"W-why?" Rocky whispered, never looking up from his shoes.

"Why what, son?" his father said calmly. Chase nearly pounded on the glass in anger.

"He's not your son!" he said. "You never treated him like one, you bas-" Skye held him back before another officer got to him.

"Sweetie, calm down," she said, holding his arm firmly. "Don't make a scene. He can't hear you, it's not worth it."

Rocky slowly looked up, meeting his parent's eyes. "Why did you do those things to me?" His fists were clenched, the anger swelling up. When they didn't answer, he screamed "Why?!"

"We're sorry, honey," his mother said.

"I don't accept that. You could've stopped drinking, you could've gotten help, but no..." Tears fell from his face. "No, you had to take it out on someone. On me!" He walked towards the table and sat down.

"I don't like your tone, son," his father said.

Rocky slammed his hands on the table. "Shut up! I am not your son and you have no right to call yourself a father! You may be my flesh and blood but, so long as I'm alive, I will never forgive you for what you did, neither of you!"

Silence filled the room. Rocky's mother had begun crying during Rocky's little speech, her head down on the table. Rocky's father, on the other hand, was angered. His face was reddened, either embarrassment or anger. "We didn't raise you to be this way," he said. "We raised you right. We raised you to be a good little boy who didn't talk back to his own parents. We taught you resp-"

Rocky raised his hand and slapped him across the face. An officer quickly moved in, but the other officer waved him off. "You taught me nothing! You caused me nothing but pain for years! We'll guess what?" He walked over to his dad. "It's payback time." Rocky brought a fist to his dad's chin, striking him as hard as he could.

"That's enough!" an officer ordered, pulling Rocky back. Rocky's dad collapsed onto the table, knocked unconscious by the blow. "This meeting is over." Rocky was escorted out into the hall.

Chase and Skye stood in the next room, completely shocked by what they saw. Skye rushed out into the hallway, meeting Rocky and hugging him. Meanwhile, Chase watched as the officers struggled to drag Rocky's mother and father out of the room, completely destroyed by their son's words and actions.

Rocky, too, was in shock. He had never felt so moved, so angered that he would take physical action. The entire scene was a complete blur in his mind. One minute, he was yelling at his father, the next, his father was lying on the table, out cold. Skye was asking him a million questions, all of which he missed.

An officer approached Chase, pulling him aside. "As far as I saw, nothing happened in there. What he did was justified. Other's may not think so, but I'll handle it."

"Thank you, Officer."

"Did you teach the little guy that?" the officer chuckled. "Never in my career have I seen such a youngin' with so much force."

"I swear, he didn't get it from me. Don't know where that came from. Karma's a b-."

"Got that right. Have a nice day, Mr. Shepherd."

Chase walked out to meet his wife and son. Rocky still looked as though he was in shock. "We'll talk about this at home," he said. Rocky simply nodded, although he was terrified on the inside. His right hand was still clenched in a fist as they walked out of the prison.

~~~

As the group walked through the front door, Rubble and Zuma were rushing down the fireman's pole. "What's going on?" Skye asked Marshall.

"Small fire at City Hall. Rubble and Zuma got it." He closed the cover and shivered a bit. "How'd the visit go?"

"Rocky," Chase said. "Why don't you-" The boy ran off past Marshall into his room, closing the door behind him. "Right..."

"What happened?" Marshall lead them over to the couch. Chase and Skye sat next to each other, Marshall across from them. They proceeded to explain what the situation. Chase excitedly recounted how Rocky assaulted his own father before he calmed himself down. "Well, it seems all that pent up pressure finally came out. How's he feel now?"

"That's just it," Skye said. "He hasn't said a word since we left. It's like he's in shock."

"He most definitely didn't mean to hit him," Chase said. "Can't say I would've done any different, though."

"Chase!" Skye scolded.

"What? He deserved what he got, and more!"

"Enough, you two," Marshall said. "Fighting never solves anything."

"Didn't someone once say 'Actions speak louder than words'?"

"That was Mark Twain. Guess I didn't hit your head that hard back in school," Marshall smirked. They all chuckled a bit. "Either way, while what Rocky did wasn't technically right, I'm assuming he's not in trouble. I guess it was his only way to get some closure."

A sudden knock at the door alerted them. "Are we expecting someone?" Skye said.

"No..." Chase said, getting up to answer. Peering through the peephole, he saw a young boy he recognized. Smiling, he opened the door. "Scott? What are you doing here?"

"Hello, Officer Chase," he responded. Scott was a boy a little older than Rocky. He had brown hair and eyes that changed depending on his mood. Right now, they were bright blue, his big smile forcing him to squint. "Rocky left his physics binder in our class. Just wanted to drop it off."

"Thanks, Scott, really appreciate it. Why don't you come inside, if you're not busy. I"m sure Rocky would love the company." Scott nodded, walking into the firehouse.

"Wow!" he said, aweing at the room. "Is that-"

"Yep," Marshall said, rising from his chair. "Genuine fireman's pole. Only used for official business." The boy looked a bit saddened by his words. "I don't see why you can't go down." His eyes lit up with excitement. "But we work on with a buddy system here." Marshall looked up at Chase and nodded towards Rocky's room.

Chase got the idea pretty quickly. As Skye prepared a few snacks for the guys, Chase went off to Rocky's room. He knocked quietly on his door. "Hey, Rock? Buddy? Mind if I come in?"

"Sure," a whisper came from behind the door. Chase slowly opened the door. Rocky was lying on his back on the bed, staring at the ceiling. "I'm sorry," he said.

Chase looked at him curiously as he sat on the edge of the bed. "Did you do something wrong?"

"I hit my dad. Twice. I-I've never hit anyone before. I've never been so mad before. But... But he wouldn't stop." Chase listened carefully. Rocky sat up, swinging his legs off the bed. "I remembered what they did to me. All the terrible n-names th-they called m-me..."

"Rocky, I-" The young boy pushed himself into Chase, crying into his chest. Chase hugged him tightly. "You didn't do anything wrong. Yes, hitting people is technically wrong, but after everything he did to you, it was justified."

"Y-you really think so?"

"I used to be a cop. I know what I'm talking about. Plus," He pushed Rocky back so he was sitting up. "Between you and me, he deserved it." He gave Rocky a smile and he smiled back. "Listen. Scott's out in the living room and Marshall's enforcing a 'buddy' rule for the pole."

Rocky almost instantly perked up at hearing his friend's name. "Why's Scott here?"

"You left your physics binder in class. Go say hi!" Rocky nodded, rushing off excitedly to greet his friend. Chase chuckled, watching him run off. With a sigh, he, too, followed.

~~~

Rocky excitedly told Scott about his various chores around the firehouse, including maintaining the vehicles. Scott was amazed that a kid, younger than he, knew mechanics. He himself was just starting to learn! He watched as Rocky showed him his iPad, all the various blueprints and documents he had learned to read.

"So, you really like it here, huh?" Scott asked him.

"Well, yeah, I mean, who wouldn't?" Rocky said, gesturing around himself. "I get to work on all this equipment, plus I have a family that loves me."

"That's great." Scott smiled. "I'm really happy for you Rocky. Just a year ago, you told me what was happening at home, but now, you're safe."

"I saw them, today," Rocky said.

"Really? What happened?"

"Well, she just wouldn't stop crying. Meanwhile, he was criticizing me to the point where I-" Rocky paused as he remembered. He gripped his hand, still feeling the pain. "I punched him."

"You punched your old man? In prison?"

"I-I couldn't help it! It was an accident..." Rocky's usual excited self almost immediately went back to being shy and quiet.

"Look, he had what was coming to him." Scott placed his arm on Rocky' shoulders. "I think he got the message."

"I just-I don't know what came over me. It just... happened."

"You're not in trouble at all, otherwise you'd still be there." They both heard the doorbell ring.

"Who could that be?" Rocky asked. Scott walked over to the garage door and peered through the small window.

"Looks like a state trooper," Scott said, looking back at Rocky. He just shrugged.

"Rocky, Scott, come upstairs please," Marshall said through the intercom. The two boys rushed upstairs, meeting him in the living room. An officer was talking to Chase at the door. Skye looked upset, but was hiding her face. "Scott, I need to take you home. Rocky, would you like to come?"

"What's going on?" Rocky asked. "Why is Mom crying?"

"There's nothing to worry about," Marshall assured him. He grabbed Rocky's jacket. "Let's get Scott home." Rocky watched as Chase and Skye followed the trooper without a word. Marshall forced the jacket on the boy, zipping it up.

"I'm sure everything's fine, dude," Scott said. They climbed into Marshall's car and drove off. Rocky turned in his seat to watch the troopers vehicle go off in the other direction.

"Who's hurt?" Rocky asked aloud. He looked at Marshall through the rearview mirror. "Which one?"

Marshall looked away for a moment, eyeing the road. "Zuma."